Break Shadow
by Shinji Shazaki
Summary: Slash warning, but not in the way of the boys. The end of this tale, but never the end of the story. Read, review, and I hoped you enjoyed this piece of work.
1. Blind Swordsman

Break Shadow

C1: Blind Swordsman

[Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans."  I own whatever I write/create.  Don't steal and don't sue.]

The crowd parted almost naturally, without even thinking, as a woman led by a massive dog walked in the other direction.  A strip of dark red cloth was tied around her head, covering her obvious blind eyes, and keeping her short, shaggily cut black hair from her face.  The dog was just as shaggy as its master, massive enough for the woman to rest her hand on its back without the slightest bend in her back.  The woman herself was tall, slim, and most would exaggerate that she was as skinny as the strange stick on her back.  Her clothes were long, slightly ragged, and all black.

The strange stick looked slightly curved and almost looked as though it bore a hilt with a bloody gem embedded in the base.  However, a second glance showed that it was a stick, and nothing more.  No one really gave the woman a second look, and she let the massive beast guide her to a dock.  Her unseeing gaze turned towards the bay, where sunlight glanced off clear waters and shadows fell from a peculiar tower.

"If I may ask, sir," the woman spoke suddenly.  The touring man in a loud Hawaiian shirt jumped in shock.  He hadn't thought the woman had noticed him walk up next to her.

"Well, sure," he replied, more than a bit surprised.  His pudgy hands were clamped around a huge camera, aimed towards the T-shaped tower.  "What do you need to know?"

"What city am I in?" the woman asked.  "What am I looking at right now?"

"Well, we're in Black City," the man answered.  "We're looking at Titan's Tower, where the Teen Titans are."

"Teen Titans?" the woman didn't seem as confused as the man originally believed.  "Who are they?  Certainly not the creatures of myth."  The man thought he heard her whisper to herself, "I've killed almost all of them myself," but shrugged it off.

"No, they're superheroes," the man laughed, rubbing the back of his head genially.  "You haven't heard of them?  There's Robin, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire, and Raven."  The woman visibly stiffened, head rising suddenly.

"The last one you said," she murmured.  "The Raven.  A girl?  Do you mean a girl with dark powers?  Is that the Raven of which you speak?"  The man was thoroughly bemused.  The woman acted like she had no idea of what he was talking about, but described Raven to the hilt.  Well, as best one could describe the nearly silent and shadow-hidden sorceress.

"Yeah," he blinked.  "Yeah, that's Raven all right.  Do you know her?"  The woman did not reply.  From nowhere and nothing, the ground rumbled and the sky echoed an explosion.  Screams rose up to greet those sudden sounds, and the tourist jumped in shock, his cream white fisherman's hat falling from his sweaty, bald head.

"Someone's robbing the bank!" a scream rang out.  "Someone call for help!"

"Well, this might be your chance to meet with Raven," the man said, eyes wide in shock and alarm.  The woman turned about, the dog faithfully at her side.  The dog looked up at her with impossible red eyes, and the two began to walk away.  The man jerked in amazement.

"Don't tell me you're going to try and go there!" he shouted.  "You'll get yourself killed!  Leave the heroic stuff to the heroes!"  The woman turned on heel and smiled briefly, almost sadly.

"I'm going to find a very old friend of mine," she murmured.  "If I have to go where a battle is to see her, then so be it.  Don't worry about me."  The dog began to walk away swiftly, guiding the woman away.  The tourist just stared in shock.  When she rounded a corner and vanished, the man forgot that he had ever seen her, ever spoken to her, or ever even glanced sideways at her.  She was gone from his memory.

----------

"Get ready for the big bang, baby!"  The Titans barely had time to scatter before an explosion tore another vast hole into the ground.  The brothers Bada and Boom, most creatively named for their use of gunpowder and flamethrowers, were standing outside the first bank of Black City to confront the Teen Titans.  A hole was blasted in the side of the building, and a highly compressed orb of powder sat near the vault.

"Starfire, wait!" Robin called, holding up a hand to stay the coming blast.  "If you hit them, they might blow up!"  Starfire calmed the blaze in her hands, eyes worried.  The team stood still, thinking desperately of something that could stave off any further explosions.  Bada and Boom laughed uproariously at their near-assured victory, turning towards the bank once more.

"_Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!_"  The words hung in the air as wicked shadows swallowed the explosive near the vault door.  Raven, resident sorceress of Black City, caught the volatile sphere and gave the brothers the same look she gave everyone.  Raven felt no compassion for the world around her, and the coldness was reflected in her dark eyes.  So far, the only time she had truly shown any emotion was within the confines of her meditation mirror.  Of course, that was because those forms of herself were simply pure emotion, so it could not be helped.

Despite the fact that they had just lost their exploding ball, Bada and Boom grinned.  Boom, the lankier of the brothers and wielder of flamethrowers, aimed at Raven swiftly and shot a volley of searing fire towards her.  Raven reacted quickly, but was unprepared for what would happen from those actions.  She threw the explosive away and leapt back, arms coming up to guard what they could.

The explosion tore the street apart from one sidewalk to the next.  Raven felt the heat rip her pale flesh and grimaced in pain.  Her hands steamed and bleed, blisters appearing almost instantly from the heat.  The occurring force threw her through the air and the girl didn't even want to think about how hard she was going to hit the wall.

Rather abruptly, she stopped, someone's arms around her.  Raven turned to thank whatever teammate had kept her from crashing into a wall and paused.  She had to think, but she knew she had seen that face hidden behind red cloth before.  The person, a woman, smiled at her and set her on her feet before turning to look blindly at the brothers.

"Children shouldn't play with fire," she snickered to herself, reaching over her shoulder and pulling at the strange stick strapped to her back.  Light flashed off a gleaming silver blade and the blind woman stood calmly before the villains.  The brothers laughed heartily at the woman, knees buckling.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Bada shouted at her.  "How're you supposed to even try and fight us?"  The woman smiled back, her body surprisingly loose despite holding such an obviously sharp blade.  Bada was suddenly pulled down by something, the barrel of gunpowder on his back smashing against the sidewalk.

"Who's there?" the man shouted.  He choked as water doused him and the fallen gunpowder, ruining what remaining explosive there was left.  Bada cursed angrily and stood up, shaking himself to get the water away.  A cat purred somewhere at his ankles, and he looked down.  A small housecat made entirely of water circled his legs, staring up at him with strange, clear eyes.

"What the hell?" Bada stammered, shaking his head in confusion.  "What are you?"  The cat smiled, though it was impossible, and suddenly grew in size, becoming a terrible wildcat that leered at the man.  He took a step back, and the cat circled around him, stretching to ridiculous lengths and surrounding him easily.

"What is this?" he demanded.  "Get away from me!  What are you?"  The cat let out a howl that echoed in the eerie silence of the battle, and it melted away to a formless orb that contained the man.  The woman holding the sword smiled again and snapped her fingers.  A tremendous serpent appeared at her feet, lashing out a forked tongue.  It slithered its ice-made body over the ground and struck the water, freezing the liquid and criminal within.

Bada had a look of absolute terror on his face, frozen by the ice.  His brother turned towards the woman, who stood with a smile on her face.  His eyes were brimming with tears of hatred, rage, and he took a shaking aim at her.

"You bitch!" he screamed.  "I'll kill you!  I'll kill you dead!"  Boom sent a massive wall of flame at her, and grinned when she vanished in the searing fire.  The Titans drew a collective gasp, and Raven stared in horror at what happened.  Boom ended the blast and began to laugh wickedly as the smoke settled slowly.  He turned on the heroes.

"Now I'm going to barbeque you freaks!" he shrieked.  His laughter grew louder, near maddening as he took aim once again.

"Did you honestly think I was dead?"

The voice rang out from the smoke and ash.  All turned towards it.  Steps sounded in the silence, and the glistening blade appeared from the black, smoldering cinders.  The woman stepped into the light, still smiling, sword held loosely at her side.  Boom snarled, baring his teeth as a bead of cold sweat rolled down his face.

"I came here to find someone that I left eight years ago," the woman chuckled.  "Your pathetic traps aren't going to stop me from finding her.  So unless you want me to defeat you like I did your companion, then I advise you stop whatever you've decided to do."  Boom's eyes widened in fear, muscles tense.

"You're just a blind freak!" he cried.  The woman laughed mirthlessly, walking slowly towards Boom.

"I may be blind, but that doesn't mean I can't win," she murmured.  "Do you know why you can't defeat me?  I'm blind, but I'm a demon.  Demons don't lose to humans."  Boom's hands shook, and he sent more flames from his weapons.  The woman spun on heel, sword coming up and cutting through the fire.  Her movements were fluid, at ease and swift.  Something flashed around the blade, and the red fire was blown away as black flames surrounded the sword.

The woman rushed forwards through the horizontal pillars of fire and leapt up.  She cut through the lines that fed fuel to the flamethrowers and the blaze stopped instantly.  Boom cowered as the woman turned slightly, flipped the sword in her hands, and swung.  The dull edge of the one-sided sword hit Boom full in the ribs and he coughed sharply.  He fell to the ground, unconscious.  The battle was over.

"Oh my," Starfire said softly.  "That was…"

"Wow," Cyborg murmured.  The woman spun the sword in hand and slid it cleanly and easily into its sheath on her back.  The dog, which had been standing almost faithfully at Raven's side, barked once at the woman.  She turned immediately, gaze turned towards the sorceress.

"Your hands," she called to the girl.  Raven almost jumped at the sudden words.  She looked at her burnt hands and found them shaking from pain and amazement.  "Are they hurt badly?  I can smell the blood."  When Raven gave no reply, the woman began to walk across the damaged street, avoiding the areas that burned and were now holes.  She stopped a few feet before Raven, her hands carefully reaching for the girl.

"I suppose I should have run a bit faster," she said with a faint chuckle.  "I'm sorry I didn't get here before they decided to try and blow you up."  Her long fingers took hold of Raven's wrists gently and she lifted the bleeding hands.  She twitched her head and the cat made of water appeared, standing on the woman's arm.  It sniffed at Raven's hands and turned to formless, cool liquid.  It surrounded the sorceress' hands and remained there without moving.

"Sorry again, whoever you might be," the woman chuckled again.  "I hate to be so impertinent, but I'm looking for someone.  Do you know where I might find the Teen Titans?  I'm looking for Raven."

"Well, you sure found us," Robin laughed.  "We're the Titans.  You just helped us beat a couple of criminals.  And the girl you're talking to is Raven."  The woman's head twisted slightly in shock and she turned blindly to Raven.

"Is that really you, Raven?" she asked with a smile.  "You have to say something or I won't know.  I'm blind, remember?"  Raven swallowed hard and took a deep breath.

"It's me," she murmured.  "It's me.  Why are you here?  Why are you looking for me?  You were part of my life for eight straight years, Chaos, and you just left.  Why are you here now?"  The woman chuckled slightly, shaking her head.

"I have a lot to apologize for," she, Chaos, murmured.  "I don't think I should have vanished without a goodbye, but I had to.  Sorry about that, and about not getting here before you were burned.  I have one last thing to apologize for, but I won't mean it."

"What's that?" Raven questioned.  Chaos smiled, bent down, and kissed Raven gently.  Raven jerked in response, but found herself unable to break the kiss.  After a long moment, Chaos stood straight again.  Raven stared in shock at the sudden touch.

"Sorry," Chaos shook her head with a smirk.  "But I don't mean that."

_—to be continued—_


	2. Azarath Memories

Break Shadow

C2: Azarath Memories

[Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans."  I own whatever I write/create.  Don't steal and don't sue.]

Raven stared out at the bay of Black City.  Her eyes were glazed as the rain decided to fall on the world.  Footsteps fell softly behind her and she sighed.  Starfire was, as always, quite curious about why Raven was so deep in thought about the most recent battle.  The alien had held off on questions for the remainder of the previous day, but she wasn't going to take silence for an answer.

"Raven?" Starfire asked anxiously.  "I hate to have a sticky nose, but may I ask you about what happened yesterday?"  Raven allowed herself a swift smirk at Starfire's mismatched terms and let out a small sigh.  She turned about to face the girl, Starfire standing still with her hands closed over her chest.

"When I told you about myself, I left quite a bit out," Raven admitted.  "I simplified a lot of things, and I didn't really want to talk about her."  Starfire recalled the conversation that they had shared in the dark alleyway.  Raven had mentioned briefly that her life had been chaos until she was eight, but left it at that.  The taller of the girls cocked her head in the silly manner she had.

"You did not mean that your life was random and hard to understand," Starfire murmured.  "You meant that she was your life?"  Raven shook her head with a hard exhale.  It was a difficult thing to even try to explain, and Starfire was making it harder.

"Yes and no," the sorceress replied.  "Chaos was always around when I was younger.  She was around so much that I couldn't think of life without her.  When I was eight, she just vanished one day.  There was no goodbye or explanation of why, she just disappeared.  She taught me a lot about my powers and how to restrain my emotions.  I owe her, I suppose.  But I don't understand why she's shown up now."

"And you do not understand why she performed an act of love to you?"  Raven stiffened at the remark, her eyes a bit wider than normal.  She stared at Starfire, who only smiled back at her.  Raven wondered why Starfire was so blunt, but reminded herself that the planet the other girl came from served something called "pudding of sadness."  They were blunt, but rather creative with their emotions.

"Love isn't a word, much less an emotion I'd associate with Chaos," Raven muttered.  "When I last saw her eight years ago, she was like I am.  We weren't the cheeriest of people because we couldn't be.  I don't see why Chaos was acting like she was yesterday."  Starfire tilted her head in bemusement, and Raven sighed.  There really was no way of getting around giving Starfire an explanation, so she began to tell her tale.

----------

A heavy rain doused the area.  It was a rare thing for rain to fall so much on Azarath.  Azarath, home of demons and angels, and all those mixed between.  A woman led by a massive dog stepped lightly through the puddles of rain.  She held a one-sided blade in her right hand, red eyes uncovered.  She, Chaos, strode towards a certain house that was apart from all others.

"What do you smell, Flame?" Chaos asked the dog.  The dog turned its head slightly, casting red eyes about and taking in deep breaths.  As raindrops fell to its black fur, steam rose up and was whisked away in the breeze and gently waving fur.  The beast, not an animal at all, was her familiar.  Chaos was a pureblood demon, born through the blood of black elemental magic and dark flames.  She understood what the creature, made from black fire itself, said silently.

"Hatred?" Chaos murmured.  "She's going to kill herself.  Get in the house and stop her."  The dog growled softly and leapt away.  Chaos sighed and continued to walk towards the house, almost smirking when a crunch signaled the door's destruction.  She strode through the broken doorway, stepping easily over the fallen door.  In a room dark from the night and the rain, a woman sat curled on the floor.  A few feet away, a sharp kitchen knife lay on the floor under the black dog's paw.  She sobbed, her long black hair falling around her face.

"Please, no more demons!" she sobbed, her hands shaking madly over her temples.  "I don't even want to live anymore!  Please, for the love of god, let me die!"  Chaos gazed at the woman, eyes usually filled with the lust for battle soft.  After a moment, she laid down her sword and knelt down next to the woman.

"Your name is Alena, isn't it?" the demon woman asked.  She reached out to touch the woman's shoulder, pausing when the sobbing woman jerked away.  Carefully, slowly, she tried again and let her fingers trail on the woman's cheek.  She gently wiped the tears away and lifted Alena's chin so she would look up.

"I'm not here to hurt you," Chaos explained, her crimson eyes creating a calming hypnotic effect.  "I know what you are.  You are a half-breed between a human woman and an angel.  I know what happened to you just a few nights ago.  You were raped by a demon named Trigon.  Do you know why I know all of this?"  Alena shook her head, tears still slowly falling from her eyes.

"Something happened to me about a week ago," Chaos continued to explain.  "Something that rarely happens to pureblood demons.  I was visited in my dreams by the archangel Gabriel.  He showed me a prophecy that involved you, Trigon, and the child developing in your body.  Gabriel said that there was something important about your child—something I cannot remember.  Demons can rarely remembers dreams, much less prophecies.

"I can only remember that he said your child is important to the world.  He warned me to not let you die and to make sure that your child stays alive.  There will be others after you.  They will try to kill Trigon's child.  He is second only to Lucifer himself, and this child—mixed with demon, angel, and human blood—may even surpass him.  You must stay alive."

"But this is…terrible," Alena whispered in despair.  "That terrible thing did this to me!  He took everything from me!  He took my body and raped it!"  Chaos sighed and pulled the woman close.

"I know that I'm not one to say that you should try to live," the demon said.  "Up until this point, I have traveled through the human realm and Azarath killing everything in my sight.  I've been called the grim reaper at times.  The thing is, demons and angels do not associate well with each other and will often engage in death battles when they encounter each other.  For an angel, not to mention the archangel Gabriel, to visit a pureblood demon for a prophecy is something that's never happened."

"What's your point?" Alena asked bitterly.  "Why should I believe you?"  Chaos frowned and stood up, taking her sword in hand.  She stood with the razor-sharp tip of the blade against Alena's throat.  The sword was forged by Chaos herself in her own black flames, and there was no blade in any realm that was sharper.  The lightest touch caused a line of blood to run down Alena's neck.

"Look as deep inside yourself as you can," Chaos ordered.  "Any person with angelic blood should be able to sense anything within themselves.  Find that tiny new life in your body, if you can.  I will slice your throat in thirty seconds unless you tell me not to."  Alena looked into Chaos' bloodthirsty eyes and saw the death that Chaos was nicknamed for.  She closed her own blue eyes and delved deep into her own spirit.

Chaos kept her eyes on Alena, her mind easily keeping track of the time.  After thirty seconds, she pulled her sword back and thrust at top speed.  Alena's eyes snapped open, consumed by brilliant white light.  Chaos' entire body was covered with wicked shadows and thrown backwards into a wall.  Not a second later, the shadows vanished and Chaos fell onto her feet.

"By Lucifer," the demon coughed.  "Even this early, that child has its father's strength.  Only Trigon or my father can throw me so hard."  Alena gasped, placing her hands over her lower abdomen.  The power had surged through her, and none of it had been hers.  It was undeniably strong.

"So the prophecy was true," Chaos murmured.  "Damn that angel.  I suppose I'll have to keep you alive until that child is born or I'll have all of Heaven after my blood."  She turned towards the door, beckoning the dog Flame to her side.  "Teach the child as you like.  My business is only to make sure it stays safe."  She strode towards the door, sliding the sword into a sheath on her back.

"Wait!" Alena cried.  Chaos paused, turning to glance back at the woman.  "Please, I'm begging you…teach her."

"Her?" Chaos sneered, flashing the fangs all demons bore.  "So you're going to bare a girl.  What difference does that make to me?  Why should I teach her?"

"My skills only go as far as healing," Alena murmured desperately.  "You felt that dark magic yourself!  She's more demon than anything else, and she'd learn from you!  Please, for her own sake, teach her."  Chaos sighed, casting her eyes towards the outside.  Alena let her eyes fall, realizing that pleading with a demon was a rather futile effort.

"Very well," Chaos said grudgingly.  "I will teach the girl, but I will not suffer through preaching about the value of life.  I'm a demon, and I live to kill."  Alena nodded, glad that the demon so feared for death would help her and her future child.

----------

"That is how you met Chaos?" Starfire asked innocently.  Raven sighed a bit, surprisingly not irritated.

"No, Starfire," she replied.  "I wasn't born yet.  That was how my mother met Chaos, and how Chaos became my teacher.  She taught me everything about controlling my emotions so my powers wouldn't destroy everything."  Starfire nodded as she began to understand what exactly made Raven what she was.

"But you said Chaos could see," the alien said bemusedly.  "When we met her today, she said she was blind."  Raven sighed once more, looking out over the bay.

"When I was eight, I was attacked by pureblood demons while Chaos was teaching me," she began to explain.  "What happened is how Chaos became blind."

----------

"So the merchant of death has lowered herself to playing teacher to a little half-breed freak?" the dog-faced demon barked laughingly.  "Well, we'll just have to kill you along with the kid."  Chaos stood from her meditative position, Flame standing at her side.  Raven, merely a child of eight, stood close to her master in subconscious fear.  While she learned not to show the emotion, she was still a frightened child.

"I've not lowered myself," Chaos growled, drawing her sword.  "I'd just rather not have every angel in Heaven hunting me for letting their prophetic child get killed by the likes of you.  Raven, focus.  Do not let them touch you.  Remember that your power is stronger than theirs."  Raven nodded, pulling her hood up over her head.

"Kill them both!" the dog-faced demon shouted.  The five demons rushed at Raven and Chaos.  Chaos held her sword in one hand before her, facing two angry demons.

"Return to my blade, Flame!" she commanded.  The dog howled and vanished into shapeless black fire.  It rushed to Chaos' sword and surrounded the blade.  With unparalleled speed, Chaos ran at the two demons and cut them down in one fell swoop.  They fell to the ground with death cries as Chaos swung the blade to cast the blood away.

"_Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!_" Raven cried, focusing her energy on a large tree.  Her signature black shadows captured the foliage and uprooted the massive pine.  Barely strained, she cast her hands at the two demons running at her with axes.  The tree followed her dark magic and slammed into the demons, thoroughly crushing them unto death.  Raven, charged with her first success, whirled to face the final demon.  Enraged, the demon hurled flaming shuriken at the young sorceress.  Raven held her hands up, the black shadows creating a shield.

The shuriken bounced off the black magic and struck the demon—one in the forehead and two in the heart.  Two other shuriken, however, flew by the demon.  When the demon fell to the ground, dead, Raven allowed herself a small smirk.  However, the shout that echoed through the forest shattered her newfound glory.  She looked away from the demon to find her master fallen to the ground, hands over her face.

"Master?" she asked nervously.  "Are you injured?"  She walked cautiously towards the elder demon and froze when Chaos sat up and threw the two errant shuriken to the ground.  They were covered in black blood—blood trademark only to demons.  Chaos covered her eyes with a shaking hand, blood streaming down her face.

"Master?" Raven asked once more.  Chaos stood up, sword in her free hand.  After a moment of listening, she turned sightlessly to the young girl.  With a shout filled with rage, she lifted her sword and swung down at Raven.  Raven lifted her hands automatically and created her dark shield.  The sword clashed against magic.  Raven strained against Chaos' strength and anger and eventually managed to deflect the blow.  The sword slammed into the ground.  Dust flew into the air, and a massive gouge was created from the sheer force of the strike.

"I can teach you nothing more," Chaos snarled, a hand still over her eyes.  "My debt is done to those damned angels."  She turned from Raven, the black fire falling from her sword into its familiar form of the hound.  Chaos walked away without another word, and Raven was left alone.

----------

Starfire and Raven stood in silence for a time.  Raven kept her eyes to the water of the bay, whilst Starfire looked to the stars.  A moment passed, and Starfire let out a confused groan.

"If she attacked you for taking her sight, why did she help us in battle today?" the alien asked, rubbing her head to try and stimulate extra thought.  "Would she not have tried to attack you again?"

"That's what I don't understand," Raven admitted.  "I couldn't heal her then, but I probably could now.  I don't know why she's here now."  Before either girl could think of something to say, their emergency warning items began to blink.  There was simply no time to waste now.

_—to be continued—_


	3. Supply and Demand

Break Shadow

C3: Supply and Demand

[Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans."  I own whatever I write/create.  Don't steal and don't sue.]

The Teen Titans burst through the already damaged metal door to one of Black City's multiple warehouses, ready for the reported group of robbers.  However, everything was silent in the massive place.  There were no cries of anger towards the heroes that usually accompanied their arrival.  Apart from the smashed door, there was no evidence to show the robbers had ever been there.

"If you're looking for those thugs, they're over there," a voice said from behind the team of five.  "Encased in ice, just as your police seem to like them."  The team whirled in unison, expecting a fight.  Their eyes fell upon the demon Chaos, who seemed to be smirking at them.  Raven's hands tightened as she stepped forwards.

"What are you doing here, Chaos?" she demanded to know.  Chaos grinned, flashing her eerie fangs.

"I was doing one more good deed for you," she said.  "I was hoping that if I stopped a few thugs for you, you might heal my eyes for me.  Demons don't have much luck asking healers for help."  Raven sighed, frowning at the blind demon woman.

"If I restore your sight, will you tell me why you kissed me?" the sorceress inquired.  Chaos' grin increased, as if she was having fun listening to Raven's emotional distress.

"Of course," she chuckled.  "An eye for an eye, as the human saying goes."  Raven ignored the peculiar statement and lifted her hands to rest over Chaos' covered eyes.  She called up the holy blood within herself and let the healing energy flow out into Chaos.  After a moment, she lowered her hands and backed away.  Chaos grabbed the blindfold with one of her clawed hands and pulled it away.  She turned about and looked up to the quarter moon in the starlit night sky.

"How wonderful to see that moon after eight years," she sighed, grinning at her restored sight.  "And now I can decipher what exactly this strange little emblem is."  She lifted a disc to examine it in the moonlight, and Robin scowled.  The disc carried the trademark angular S that Slade used.

"Did your dog take that off the robbers?" Robin asked.  Chaos turned around and smirked at the Boy Wonder.

"No," she said, flipping the disc as if it were an oversized quarter.  "A peculiar man with a deep voice gave it to me a few nights ago before I came here to find my former student.  Familiar with it, bird boy?"

"Slade," Robin snarled.  "What business does he have with you?  Why'd he give you that disc?"

"He told me what direction I should go to find Raven," Chaos replied.  "Before I left, he gave me that disc and said he just might find me here."  Robin's teeth were clenched in rage, but Beast Boy spoke up before the leader of the team could demand more information.

"Didn't you say you were going to tell Raven why you smooched her?" he asked bluntly.  Raven glared at him, but he shrugged it off as he always did.  Chaos snickered and caught Slade's disc once more before turning to Raven.

"Call it another eye for an eye," the pureblood demon laughed.  "You caused me physical pain, so I caused you some mental anguish.  I can see it in your eyes now.  That and I've always liked seeing you squirm."

"So it meant nothing?" Starfire questioned.  Chaos chuckled at the innocent alien's speech.

"Of course not," the demon answered.  "Raven was my student because I didn't want any damned angels coming after me for letting their prophecy child die."

"That doesn't explain a kiss," Raven murmured.  Chaos smirked and strode to the sorceress, standing nose to nose with the girl.

"Demons can be fairly possessive, Raven," the tall woman said.  "I'm just selfish enough to want to steal your first kiss."  After a moment, she stood straight and started to walk away.  "But I can see I'm not your type.  I think someone a little more innocent is right up your alley.  Perhaps someone with bright green eyes."  The demon paused and turned about, drawing her sword from the sheath on her back.

An empty oil drum sliced itself open on her blade, the black shadows fading as the object broke.  Chaos grinned and let out a terrifying laugh, red eyes filled with twisted amusement.

"And now I've managed to get your feathers ruffled, Raven!" she laughed.  "Overprotective of your odd little teammate, aren't you?  Raven frowned, her hands surrounded by shadows and her eyes gleaming white.  Massive objects lifted from the ground and flew at Chaos.  The demon cut through each item with her terrifying, horrible laugh.

"Careful now, Raven!" Chaos shouted through all the sounds of metal being torn to shreds.  "Get any angrier and you just might let your father show!"  Raven ignored her previous master and wrenched things that were bolted into the floor up into the air.  The warehouse began to shake as Raven ripped up everything that her magic could touch.  Her eyes began to gleam a soft red.  Cyborg and Beast Boy shouted in shock and ran to their comrade.

"Raven, calm down!" Beast Boy shrieked in utter terror.  "Don't go all freaky on us!  This isn't something to get angry about!"  Raven pointedly ignored him and continued to demolish the warehouse.  Chaos had opted to increase the destruction by sheathing her sword and summoning her black fire.  She was consumed by smoke and flame.

"Raven!" Starfire called out, rushing to her teammate.  "Please stop!  You may destroy this entire building!"  She dared to reach out and grasp Raven's wrists to try and stop the attacks.  Raven glared at the red-haired girl, her teeth bared in a feral snarl.  It seemed for a moment that she would turn her magic to strike out at Starfire.  Despite all of the sorceress' anger, she managed to stop herself from acting any further with her emotions.

The smoke and fire that had hidden Chaos had faded away.  Chaos had utterly vanished from the scene.  Raven stared at the place where the demon had stood before walking out of the warehouse.  Starfire jogged after her, pulling her arm from Robin's grasp when he tried to stop her.

"Friend Raven?" Starfire questioned, walking quickly to match Raven's hastened pace.  "Are you well?"

"Go away, Starfire," Raven replied, picking up her pace.  Starfire matched the shorter girl easily, not leaving Raven's side.

"Please, Raven," the alien pleaded.  "You may tell me what is wrong.  You know that I am trustworthy."  Raven leapt from the ground and flew off at top speed.  Starfire raced after her into the cloudy sky.

"Raven, please, tell me what is wrong!" Starfire called out across the sky.  "You must trust me!  I am your friend!"  When Raven did not respond, Starfire launched herself forwards one final time.  She grabbed Raven around the waist and stopped the sorceress from going any further.

"Let me go, Starfire," Raven said flatly.

"Not until you tell me what is so troublesome," Starfire replied.  Raven frowned, but relented.  She glanced down and spotted the Titan's Tower, and the two swooped down to stand on the roof.  Raven stood away from Starfire, arms crossed over her chest.

"Anger is a problem for me," the dark-haired girl said softly, sitting down on the edge of the roof.  "Unfortunately, Chaos seems to enjoy making me angry.  When I get angry, something in the very back of my mind wakes up and tries to make sure that I live out exactly what my father would prefer."

"Your father?" Starfire questioned.

"Yes, her father."

The two girls looked up to see water rising up around the Tower in what seemed like a circular tidal wave.  The water froze as it gathered in a perfect dome.  For a moment, the moonlight reflected off of each facet of ice and lit up the small peninsula that held Titan's Tower.  Then a layer of gleaming metal covered the ice.  The reflected light was captured within the polished metal dome and it was as bight as day during midnight.

Heavy footsteps rang out in the sudden silence, as well as the scraping of a sharp object against the rooftop.  Starfire and Raven whirled about and found Chaos standing a short distance from them, sword drawn and craving a line into the roof.  She was grinning her horrendous grin, red eyes bright in the eerie light.

"How did you get here?" Raven questioned.  "What are you doing here?"

"A bit of fun before I slaughter your protectorate city and the rest of the humans in this world," Chaos chuckled.  "I'm going to kidnap you and make sure that I pay you back for those eight years of pointless 'teaching' and doing what those damned angels made me think was the right thing to do!  What in the seven hells was I thinking?  My father must be ridiculously disappointed in me, just as your father is disgusted with you!"

"Who is your father?" Starfire asked even as she readied energy around her hands.

"Lucifer himself," Raven answered in the demon's stead.  "She's the heir to Hell.  Chaos, if you try to kidnap me, you'll be in for a fight unlike any other."  Chaos laughed, her voice echoing in the solid dome.

"I never ever said I was kidnapping you, little blackbird," she snickered.  "You need to watch your opponent's eyes more closely."  A scream suddenly sounded.  Raven whirled about to see Starfire firing star bolts at multiple, bestial incarnations of elements.  She realized that Chaos was not after her, but after Starfire.

"Leave her be!" Raven turned and shouted at the pureblood demon woman.  "Your battle is with me!  Don't you dare get anyone else involved!"  Chaos grinned at her.

"If you truly do not want me to steal away your precious ally, then admit what will trigger your emotions," she leered.  "You know what I mean.  Say it!  Admit your anger!  Admit your fear!  Admit your emotions!"  Starfire gasped and cried out as a serpent of ice struck her foot and encased it in rime.  She fell to the roof, immobilized from pain and the weight of the frozen block.

"I…" Raven said, looking between Chaos and Starfire in desperation.  "I…can't."  Chaos' grin grew larger at Raven's admission.  Starfire let out a scream as she was encased in ice.  Raven jumped at her cry and ran towards her friend, but Starfire vanished in a flash of fire.  The dark-haired girl froze, her eyes wide at the wisp of steam that rose from the roof.  Starfire was…gone.

Chaos laughed wickedly and threw her arms to the sky.  The metal and ice shattered and crashed down into the bay.  She summoned her black fire and sent it hurtling towards Raven.  Raven, however, had stopped dead in her tracks and didn't even notice the fire rushing at her.  Chaos vanished in a final, massive explosion that consumed the entirety of the Tower's rooftop.  Her laugh echoed in the night.

_—to be continued—_


	4. Desolation

Break Shadow

C4: Desolation

[Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans."  I own whatever I write/create.  Don't steal and don't sue.]

Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy ran up the path to Titan's Tower.  Massive shards of metal and ice littered the ground and water surrounding the strange tower.  Dawn had broken over the horizon, and black smoke wafted up from the top of the tower.  The boys hurried to the roof, wondering what had happened in their brief absence from their base of operations.

A smoldering figure lay amidst chunks of ashen pieces of metal.  Robin sprinted to the figure and rolled it over, revealing an unconscious Raven.

"What happened here?" Cyborg questioned softly, assessing the damage quickly.

"Slade must have hired Chaos," Robin snarled, carefully lifting Raven from the ground.  "No one else could have done so much damage in such a short time."

"Dude, I don't think so," Beast Boy murmured, pointing at the ground.  The trademark disc Slade's employees carried had been slashed in twain, and a warning was gouged out into the ground.

"It says, 'I hope your little blackbird can do more than lose her teammates one by one.  Tell her to find me if she ever learns how to use her powers.'  Harsh," Cyborg read the words aloud.  "Wait, 'lose her teammates'?  What does that mean?"

"Where's Star?" Beast Boy whispered.  The boys fell silent as realization struck.  Ironically, the sun was rising on a beautiful day.

----------

"A greeting to thee, king father.  I bring word of the damned angel's prodigy."

_Oh?  And what news do you have?_

Chaos grinned her wicked grin, head bowed to the image of six bloody red eyes.  A massive black inferno crackled in front of her as she remaining kneeling on one knee.

"This peculiar creature seems to be the center point of Raven's heart," the demon chuckled, casting her hand towards a figure lying on the floor.  "She and her pathetic comrades are under the impression that this girl is dead.  Raven is broken."

_What are your plans?  Why have you kept this girl alive?_

"Torment, king father, torment," Chaos explained.  "I want to see Raven squirm.  I know that I cannot kill her—the damned angels would inevitably hunt me down and thou wouldst be without an heir, king father."

And you realize the reason for all of this? You remember the prophecy, don't you?

Chaos frowned, her back turned to the wicked black flames.  She glared at the girl lying on the floor, but soon heaved a sigh.  Chaos turned back to face the fire and the six red eyes.

"Yes, king father," she answered.  "I remember the prophecy in its entirety now.  I understand.  But Heaven's word is infallible.  This is my fate, and I will fulfill it.  Even though I despise everything about it."

Excellent.  You have reached your point in your growth.  You will be a fine ruler for Hell, my daughter.

The fire briefly reached out in the shape of a hand and caressed Chaos' cheek.  Chaos sighed but smiled when the fire returned to the massive pillar.  She knelt on one knee and bowed her head.

"I thank thee, king father," she murmured.  "I will continue to do what I must."  The fire faded, leaving the demon in the darkness.

----------

Raven jolted into the waking world.  She stared up at the ceiling of her room, sunlight streaming in through her window.  During her unconsciousness, her body had been running on automatic.  Her angelic blood had healed what wounds she had, and she was feeling as well as any time before.  She stood from her bed and pulled on her cloak, walking swiftly to the main space of the tower.

The boys were sitting on the couch; utterly silent for the first time Raven could remember.  Beast Boy was the first to notice her presence and leapt up to his feet.  Cyborg and Robin followed suit and hurried over to Raven.

"What happened?" Robin demanded to know.  Raven met his eyes with a glare, her eyes filled with obvious pain and torment.

"Chaos attacked," she snarled.  "What do you think happened?"

"Where's Starfire?" Robin snapped in return.  "Chaos is your enemy, not hers!"

"Starfire is dead," Raven whispered.  The room fell silent again at the simple statement.  Robin's hands clenched into fists, his teeth grit against each other, and he seemed ready to strike Raven.

"How could you let that happen?" he hissed.  "You let her kill Starfire!  How could you let Starfire die?  We've lost her because of you!  _I've_ lost her!  I cared about her and you let her die!"  Raven's eyes suddenly gleamed the purest white and Robin found himself captured in shadows.

"Don't you _ever_ think that you were the only one Starfire was important to!" the sorceress snarled.  "I cared for her!  I loved her!  Chaos knew that!  She killed Starfire because she knew I could never admit it to save her!  It's my fault!"  Raven fell to her knees, tears welling in her eyes.  She let her magic fade, Robin falling to the ground.

"I know it's my fault," Raven said through her tears.  "I know Starfire's dead because of me.  It's all my fault."  Robin pushed away his anger to reach out to his friend and teammate.  He, Cyborg, and Beast Boy were amazed when Raven did nothing to deflect his moves or shy away.  Though her emotions were surging in anger, despair, and grief, her magic was perfectly calm.

"Whoa," Beast Boy muttered.  "Raven…you aren't zapping us.  Wow."  Raven looked up at her teammates and then at her hands.  Even she was amazed at the fact that her magic was absolutely quiet.

"What's happened to me?" she whispered.

----------

"When are you going to stop trying to break through the metal?"  Starfire frowned at her captor and continued to fire star bolts at the metal sphere the two were inside.

"You can't break through," Chaos murmured.  "As long as I want you in here, you'll stay in here."

"Why do you keep me here?" Starfire demanded.  "I am not your enemy, and Raven should not be your enemy!  You used to be her teacher!  She admired you!  Why do you attack her?"  Chaos, for once, did not grin or smirk at the young woman.

"Heaven's demands," Chaos said softly.  "This is not my will.  If my will be done, everyone in this city would be dead, as would be you and your dear Raven."  Starfire dropped to her knees in misery, tear-filled eyes unable to look at the demon.

"Please," Starfire whispered as her tears splashed onto the metal ground.  "Please, spare my friend.  Spare her.  If you must destroy someone…take me in her place."  Chaos stared across the sphere at the defeated young woman.  She heaved a heavy sigh.

"I'm not going to destroy either of you," Chaos sighed.  "My actions are guided by that damned prophecy."

"Raven told me of a prophecy," Starfire said, daring to look up.  "But she said you do not remember it."

"I didn't," Chaos replied.  "Not until four years ago.  My father explained that the prophecy was from Heaven and could not be avoided.  The full prophecy spoke of a girl with the blood of humans, demons, and angels.  Her power would rival both the heir to Heaven and the heir to Hell.  From what glimpses I've seen and felt, it does indeed.

"Raven is that girl, of course.  The prophecy said that the heir to Hell would teach her and unlock the true depths of her powers.  I couldn't remember the prophecy until four years ago, and it took me four years to realize I can't fight Heaven's will.  Hell and its ruler will always be subservient to Heaven and its ruler."

"Then why do you keep me here?" Starfire asked.  Chaos looked at the girl and then up to the closed silver sky she had created.

"For my own sanity," Chaos answered.  "To know that my life has been nothing but the will of an ancient angelic fate is more than sad and painful.  It is maddening.  I'm almost positive I've gone mad more than once trying to fathom why I cannot alter my fate."

"And I am part of this foretelling?" Starfire questioned hopelessly.  "I am destined to die?"

"No," Chaos responded.  "You will live.  I am the one most likely to die.  Raven's power lies in her emotions, as you have no doubt discovered.  When she sees me, her anger will rise up and fuel her strength.  Her caring for you and her angelic blood will buffer the anger and give her control over her power.  Though she will not admit it, she cares for you so very much."

The two were quiet for a long time.  Starfire took in the words and tried to piece them together in her mind.  Prophecies, angels, demons, Heaven, Hell, and everything between were not her forte.  However, Chaos' nearly casual uttering of Raven's caring struck a chord.

"You say that Raven cares for me," Starfire muttered.  "What do you mean?  How do you know this?"

"I stole her first kiss, remember?" Chaos chuckled slightly.  "Her emotions were utterly baffled and I was able to read her mind in those brief moments.  She seemed saddened by the fact that she could not steal a kiss from you, even if it meant your confusion and the boy Robin's anger.  Raven is in love with you, even if she's too afraid to admit it."  Starfire blushed at the statement.

"But why can she not tell me?" she asked.  "Surely she does not think that we would shun her because of it.  We are her friends and we care for her."

"Friends can be torn apart because of love," Chaos answered rather sagely.  "She worries that you would reject her and be disgusted with her, and she worries that everything would change drastically if she told you.  Raven likes how she lives.  She doesn't have to worry about so many things because she has friends.  You and your comrades help her more than you realize."

"But she could tell me," Starfire murmured, shaking her head as she tried to understand.  "I would not be disgusted.  I wish to know why she tortures herself."

"Do you love her?" Chaos asked suddenly.  "Raven tortures herself because she fears you cannot love her the way she loves you."  The demon stood up and turned about, heading straight for the metal.  Starfire leapt to her feet and into the air, as if seeing that a chance to escape had come.  Chaos phased through the cold silver metal and Starfire hit the wall shoulder first.

Starfire fell to the ground, sprawled and unwilling to move.  Tears fell from her bright, innocent green eyes as she began to comprehend the gravity of what was happening.  Everything seemed absolutely hopeless.

----------

Raven stared down at the bay, blinking every so often as sunlight glinted off small waves.  The roof of Titan's Tower was still heavily damaged, but it was the only place Raven wished to be.  Her mind didn't want to work at the moment, and watching the waves was calming for her overbearing troubled thoughts.  Soft footsteps suddenly reached her ears and the sorceress looked up.

Robin sat down next to his estranged teammate.  The two felt the tension and tried to ignore it.  Raven continued to stare down at the water, while Robin tried to watch the clouds.

"I'm sorry for what I said," he murmured.  "I know you wouldn't have let Starfire get killed."

"I understand," Raven said, her voice soft.  The two were quiet again.

"I think we all thought Chaos was talking about Beast Boy," Robin suddenly spoke aloud.  "He's got green eyes too, and he's kind of an innocent guy.  None of us even thought that she might have meant Starfire."

"I know," Raven replied to his words.  "Everyone expected that Chaos meant Beast Boy.  It would have been the normal thing to guess, right?  If I cared about him, it would at least be slightly normal.  But I love Starfire."

"When did you realize it?" he questioned.

"A little while after the team was made," she explained.  "Just a year ago, I think.  I saw her training one day and suddenly realized that I was in love.  Everything about her just seemed so right.  Her kindness, her strength, her sense of justice and friendship—everything that was Starfire was what made me fall in love with her.  I didn't really care that she was a girl.  I just saw the person I loved."

"I know what you mean," he sighed.  "Star was such a great person.  She always wanted to help and make everyone happy.  I wish I could have told her that I cared."

"I would have given her up," Raven suddenly whispered.  Robin looked to his teammate in confusion.  "If she loved you, then I would never try to take her from you.  If you were the one that made her happiest of all, then I would give her up."

"You cared about her that much?" Robin inquired in surprise.  Raven nodded with a small smile.

"I think love is about being able to let go," she said.  Robin contemplated her words for a while, suddenly smiling a bit as well.

"I guess I could give her up too," he murmured.  "I probably wouldn't like it, but if you made her really happy, then I suppose I'd have to back off and let you two be happy."  Raven smiled at him.

"Thanks," she said."

_—to be continued—_


	5. Reflective Shadow

Break Shadow

C5: Reflective Shadow

[Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans."  I own whatever I write/create.  Don't steal and don't sue.]

Starfire hovered rather quietly in the center of her strange metal prison.  As she sat in the meditative lotus position, she murmured a soft chant.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," she murmured over and over.  The meditating calmed her slightly, and she was grateful that Raven had imparted the knowledge to her.  However, the thought of Raven broke whatever tranquility she had acquired and Starfire let herself fall back to the ground again.  The young alien could not shake Chaos' question from her mind.

"Do I love Raven?" Starfire asked herself aloud.  "Certainly I love my friend.  What kind of friend would I be if I did not love my friend?"  She heaved a sigh.  "But Chaos did not mean the love for a friend.  Do I love Raven as I would if she were my truest love?"  She could not answer her own question.

Starfire looked up to the small silver sky above her, tears suddenly welling in her bright green eyes.  She wished desperately that somebody could just appear and help her decipher this blasted problem.  Raven was the foremost choice to help her in this issue.  She did not coddle the yet-innocent young woman like Robin did, nor did she lack the maturity that Cyborg and Beast Boy earnestly needed.

As Starfire sifted through the reasons why she wanted Raven there to help, she struck upon one fact that made her pause.  She wanted Raven there to help her and reassure her because under all the bravado and denial Raven put out, she was a pure hearted person.  She would help Starfire no matter what the circumstances, and not because she was a dutiful hero.  Raven cared deeply for Starfire, even if Starfire had not seen it before.

It was then that Starfire began to wonder why exactly Raven had been the forefront of her thoughts.  Robin was the one who was a master of deduction and finding ways out of traps.  She wondered why she wasn't exactly hoping and praying for Robin to appear, but for Raven to help her.  She closed her eyes to further her thinking and was suddenly graced with a vision of herself kissing Raven.

Her eyes snapped open in shock.  Starfire swallowed around a sudden lump in her throat, a blush burning her cheeks.  She was not disgusted by the idea of kissing her comrade.  In fact, she actually found it—pleasing?  Starfire blushed a deeper shade of red when she realized that she rather enjoyed the idea of kissing Raven.

"Oh my," Starfire murmured, putting her long fingers to her lips.  She put all of her thoughts to Raven and examined every little thing about the sorceress.  After a time, Starfire smiled her adorable smile.  She had found an answer to Chaos' question.

----------

Raven suddenly stirred.  She brought her eyes back into focus and saw Chaos standing on the water below, staring up at her.  Raven's eyes flashed white as she pushed herself off of the roof, flying at Chaos with speed she never knew she had.

"Are you here to kill me too?" Raven snarled.  Chaos stared at her for a long moment before grinning.

"I see your powers are finally unlocked," she chuckled.  "Sixteen years and one traumatic death was all it took."  Chaos easily drew her sword in time to deflect the angry strike Raven lashed out with.  Raven's eyes were the gleaming white that signaled the summoning of her power, but she was doing something more than simple telekinesis.  The shadows had formed around her hands into what looked like a sword, and she stood in a stance similar to Chaos'.

"Good, Raven," Chaos laughed aloud.  "I guess my teachings really did make a difference.  Now I'll finally have a real battle.  I hope you're a good opponent."  She closed her eyes and raised her sword before her, her grin fading into an expression of concentration.  Black fire gathered around her sword and her body until it erupted into a column of flame that reached far into the sky.  When the inferno calmed, Raven found herself staring at the rightful form of Hell's heir.

Chaos' form was still humanoid, but obviously demonic.  Her eyes, narrow, glowing red diamonds, numbered six.  Her ears were pointed and folded back, and matched her terrible fangs.  Her hands and feet were clawed, and a prehensile, dagger-ended tail twitched around her legs.  Wings with night black feathers completed the image of the daughter of Lucifer Morningstar.  Raven swallowed back the fear that suddenly rose in her heart.  Starfire's face flashed before her eyes and the fear turned to rage.

Back in the Tower, Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy ran to the nearest window when a sudden tremor shook the entire building.  A massive pillar of water exploded upwards from the bay as a shockwave created massive waves.  The three met on the roof, staring out to see what they could.  Cyborg's optic sensors zoomed in to where the water was falling back into the bay.

"Whoa," he murmured softly at what he saw.  Robin produced high-powered binoculars and looked out through them.  As he fended off Beast Boy, he watched as the battle began to unfold.

Raven and Chaos swung their swords at each other with every ounce of strength they had.  They hovered over the water, ignoring the shockwaves that resulted from the sheer force of their strikes.  Chaos grinned madly, her laughter ringing out with the sound of magic against metal.  Raven harnessed the power that came from her rising anger, increasing the force of her blows and the speed at which she moved.

Chaos matched her strike for strike, almost a bit indolently.  She dodged an overhead swing and grabbed Raven's ankle with her tail.  With a mere twist, she flung the young woman through the sky towards the water.  Raven splashed into the water, sending another massive wave towards another shore.

"You must be faster, Raven!" Chaos shouted.  "Show me the power that is supposed to rival mine or I'll send you to meet your dear Starfire!"  The water below her suddenly erupted upward and threatened to blind her with spray.  Chaos gestured and the water parted at her command.  Raven was revealed, her sword aimed for a killing strike.  Chaos smirked and dodged, Raven rising up a few more yards before diving back at the demon.

Chaos would have been a bit surprised if she didn't already know how the battle was going to end.  Raven, spurred on even more by the mention of Starfire, began to attack with staggering alacrity.  Chaos, more experienced in duels to the death, still dodged Raven's attacks, but was serious in her efforts.  In fact, she continued to smirk even as Raven landed slash after slash on her body.

Raven cried out in rage as she struck a heavy blow.  Chaos was thrown back through the air, crashing down and carving a path in a barren, rocky shore.    She stood up, however, black blood streaming from her wounds.  Though she could heal the wounds herself, Chaos did no such thing.  Instead, she sheathed her sword and cast her arms out.

"End this battle, Raven!" she ordered.  "End it all!"  Raven frowned and rushed through the air.  Chaos, on the ground, grinned slightly and twitched her hands.

----------

_"I hope you can hear me, Starfire."_

Starfire looked up and about, utterly baffled as to where Chaos' voice was coming from.

"I'm assuming you've got your answer.  I'm going to free you in a moment.  Raven will be rushing to kill me, and then the prophecy will be done.  When the sphere breaks, I will be in front of you, just off a way from your tower on a rock-covered shore.  Raven will be there as well."

Starfire stood up and stared at the silver prison's walls.  Spider-web cracks suddenly appeared in the metal, and the young woman tensed to move.  When the orb of metal finally broke, Starfire was flying straight forwards at top speed.  She could see Raven standing on the rock-covered shore, a black figure lying at her feet.

"RAVEN!" she screamed.

----------

Raven slammed into Chaos.  Her sword stabbed through the demon's middle and Chaos smiled slightly.  As she stumbled backwards and fell to her back, Raven let the black magic dissipate.

"One last thing," Chaos rasped, staring blankly at the sky.  "One thing to make sure my presence only helped you."

"RAVEN!"  The sorceress turned at the scream of her name and was suddenly tackled.  Raven sat up with some difficulty, looking to see who exactly would throw their arms around her in a tight hug.  She paused, obviously wondering if she was seeing a spirit.

"Are you injured?" Starfire asked anxiously, her hands turning and twisting Raven about as she looked for injuries on the shorter young woman.  Raven, for once, did not automatically break free of the peculiar examination.  She was rather confused as to what was happening.

"You are well!" Starfire suddenly exclaimed with a massive smile.  "Wonderful!"  She hugged Raven close in happiness.  Raven blinked, her mind still trying to sort through the events.

"Raven!" a familiar voice shouted.  Starfire stood up, lifting Raven to her feet and refusing to let the other girl go.  Robin and Cyborg leapt off of a green whale and rushed over to where the battle had ceased.  Beast Boy turned back to his normal humanoid form and hurried over as well.  The boys froze when they saw Starfire.

"Star?" Robin murmured in shock.  "But…we thought you were dead."  Starfire shook her head, still not letting Raven leave her grasp.

"I am well," she said.  "You do not need to worry."  Raven turned to stare at the faintly twitching Chaos.

"You didn't hurt her at all," Raven said quietly.  Chaos smirked, black demon blood sliding from her wounds and her mouth.

"My will would have been death for this entire city," she mumbled.  "But my fate was to unlock your power.  But now that I'm about to die, I'm free from that fate.  Thanks."  Her smirk faded and her eyes closed.  The Teen Titans were silent for a time.  Chaos had gone into the battle meaning to die.  Thunder suddenly rumbled across the darkening sky.

"I don't think the news said there would be rain," Cyborg said as he looked up at the black clouds.  White lightning and red lightning flashed across the clouds.  The bursts of electricity struck closer and closer to where the Titans stood and eventually crashed down almost next to them.

Once the light had faded, the Titans were greeted with a sight unlike any they had seen before.  Two men had appeared from the lightning, and it was plainly obvious that they were not human.  The man that appeared from the red lightning bore a striking resemblance to Chaos.  In truth, the only difference between the man and Chaos was the fact that the man was covered with scars.

The second man was angelic.  His white wings caped around his immaculate white clothing and his soft gold hair fluttered before his blue eyes.  Each man went to a separate person.  The angel strode to Raven, and the demon crouched down by Chaos' body.

"Well done, Raven," the demon said.  "You've killed my daughter."  Raven, still amazed by Starfire's appearance, paled at the man's words.

"Lucifer," she whispered in the silence.  "I…don't know what to say."  The demon, Lucifer Morningstar himself, only chuckled a bit.

"You have done her a favor," he chuckled.  "The way to escape destiny is to die.  Not only did you allow her to fulfill her fate, you let her escape it as well."

"But she's dead," Raven protested.  Lucifer wagged his finger at the girl, smirking.  He took a feather from his wing and laid it on his daughter's forehead.  A moment later, the black blood on the ground began to recede into Chaos' wounds.  Her skin healed into scars, and she began to look even more like her father.  Her eyes opened and she sat up.

"Was I dead?" she questioned.  Lucifer nodded in response and pulled Chaos to her feet.  The heir to Hell shook her head to clear her mind after her sudden death and looked about.  Her eyes fell upon the angel standing near Raven.

"Gabriel," she said curtly.  "First you make sure my first life is controlled by that damned prophecy.  Now what do you want?"  Gabriel smiled at her and turned to Raven.

"I'm here to consecrate her," he gestured to the young woman.  "Her power is finally unlocked, and Heaven has decreed that I place a release limiter on that power."  He took a feather from his wing and brushed it over the gem on Raven's forehead.  Her eyes closed as the holy magic took effect.  Her clothes suddenly faded from black to white, a sign of her new strength.

"There," Gabriel murmured.  "Use your powers well, Raven."  His body faded into white light and vanished.  Chaos suddenly tapped Raven on the shoulder.  Raven turned, still trapped in Starfire's arms, to look at the demon.  Chaos smirked and flicked Raven in the nose.  The sorceress jerked at the action, blinking more out of shock than pain.

"Don't make me check on you," Chaos chuckled.  "I do owe you for what happened, but you know my patience is less than excellent.  Don't lose what you have."  Lucifer vanished in a red light and Chaos flew off to the horizon and disappeared.

"What did she mean?" Starfire asked, turning Raven about to face the shorter girl.  "What do you have that you could lose?"  Raven stared at Starfire for the longest time, just watching her bright green eyes.  She smiled at the alien girl and rose up into the air.

"Someone important," Raven said.  She moved forward and kissed Starfire gently.  When she moved away, Starfire was smiling.  In fact, Starfire was beaming as she threw her arms around Raven once again.

"Oh, this is wonderful!" the red-haired girl giggled.  "Now I know my feeling is the correct one!"  When she didn't let Raven go, the team deciphered what Starfire meant.  The boys turned to leave, but Robin lingered for a moment.  He waited until Raven put her arms around Starfire and returned the embrace.  Robin smiled, turned, and walked away.

_—to be concluded—_


	6. A Promise, Sworn

Break Shadow

Epilogue: A Promise, Sworn

[Disclaimer: DC COMICS owns "Teen Titans."  I own whatever I write/create.  Don't steal and don't sue.]

Raven let her hand trail along Starfire's cheek.  The waxing moon was one night away from a full moon, and glimmered brightly on the calm water of the bay.  Yet again, Raven found herself on the roof of the Titan's Tower.  However, she was smiling slightly as she gazed at Starfire.  Starfire had found Raven meditating after the heady battle against Chaos and asked if she could join her.

Of course, Raven agreed.  The day had slipped quickly into night, and Starfire had pulled Raven to sit next to her on the edge of the roof.

"I have always enjoyed looking at the stars," Starfire murmured.  She lay down, resting her head on Raven's thigh.  She looked up and smiled at the sorceress.

"But I believe I enjoy looking at you more," she said, blushing a ridiculously adorable pink.  Raven smiled at her and passed her hand over Starfire's green eyes.  Starfire fell asleep easily with little help from Raven's persuasive magic.  The sorceress smiled at her fortune but paused when she heard footsteps.

Robin sat down next to her as he had done earlier that day.  He looked at Starfire somewhat forlornly and heaved a sigh.

"I guess I'll have to get over her," he muttered.  "There's nothing I can really do to change her decision."  He stared down at the water, gazing at the reflection of the moon.  "I'm not sure I really expected her to…well, I didn't expect her decision was going to be to be with you."

"She never said anything about a decision," Raven sighed in turn.  "She said that her feeling was right.  If her feeling means she cares about me, then I can't say I'm unhappy about it."  Robin nodded slightly, not willing to look up and see Starfire with Raven.  He honestly knew that he was terribly jealous, but there wasn't really a way around that.  He stood up to walk away and stop tormenting himself.

"Robin?" Raven inquired before he could get too far.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"I understand," she murmured.  "And I'm sorry."

"I know," Robin rumbled softly, almost sadly.  He walked back into the tower and left the two girls to their own business.  Raven looked up to the moon and smiled faintly.  As Starfire turned in her sleep and mumbled, Raven smiled even more.

"Raven," Starfire said in her sleep.  A faint smile also graced her lips, and Raven felt purely content.

_—end—_


End file.
